FAQ'S

What books influenced you most as a child?

That is a tricky question in a way. As a child I read everything that I could get my hands on. I did loved Enid Blyton's Folk of the Magic Faraway Tree, The Wishing Chair and Naughty Amelia Jane and those booksover and over again. I still read them every so often. I just loved the thought that, even though everything looked like a normal world, it wasn't. I made me think that in the hauntingly beautiful grove in the rainforest that I visited, might be the home of some magical creature. Or that my toys might just come alive when I leave the room or go to sleep. (I am so sure that my toy monkey was alive). Many stories would transport me to other worlds and other places. I could leave my chair, or my perch in a tree, and be transported somewhere else entirely, just for a time.

My parents had a library with a collection of Readers Digest books. You know the ones. They have about four or five stories in them. Well I would devour them. I am pretty sure that they weren't particularly suitable reading fare for an eight year old. I would also read everything on horses as I've loved them since before I could talk. Whether that would be a How to Ride book, or Horse Breeds of the World, or Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, I would have my head buried in it.

Most of all, I have loved science-fiction and fantasy since a child and continue to do so.

How did you get started as a writer?

I have always been a writer-I just never called myself one. It is only in the last five years that I started realizing that writing stories is what I love to do.

As a child, I would come up with the craziest stories at school. My teachers would look at me strangely and I could never understand why.

For example: In year 7, the assignment was to write an interview, with you interviewing a person for a TV show. At the time, I was loving Australian poetry. I decided that I would interview the swagman from Waltzing Matilda. In it, I decided that he wasn't coming as a ghost as he had never drowned. When he saw the troopers, he had jumped into the billabong. As he jumped, he had grabbed some hollow grass and breathed through that until the troopers had left. He hung around the billabong, keeping himself hidden. People sometimes saw his shadow or heard him at night. So the story grew about him being a ghost. Everyone kept away from the billabong. Then he built a mud hut in the bottom of the billabong and lived there. To me, it didn't matter that his hut was made out of mud and that the billabong would fill up during every wet season. It was just fun to think about.

I absolutely love sci-fi and fantasy. I do read other genre's such as historical fiction and true stories. Some of my favourite authors are Francine Rivers, Paula Vince, and Frank Peretti. Anne MacCaffrey and her Dragon Riders of Pern series are among my all time favourites. (You should see my library... nearly a whole shelf dedicated to Anne MacCaffrey books). I also have quite a few Star Trek novels. My library would not be complete without Tolkins' Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, as well as C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. I also love collecting old books and first editions. I still have my first Heidi book and Naughty Amelia Jane (my collection needs Enid Blyton), and I have a collection of detective stories that was given to my mum in the 1940's. The latest addition to my list of favourite authors is Isobelle Carmody. I've thoroughly enjoyed her series Obernewtyn Chronicles.

Over the years, I would make up stories for my kids but never took my writing seriously. I often thought of stories and I occasionally wrote them down, it never went further than that. In the last four years my circumstances have changed, my children are now adults, and I'm in a good place to write seriously. Going to the Philippines and meeting the children from the Spirit and Life Mission House (an orphanage), inspired me to write to them regularly. I wrote short stories and drew cartoons for them. Then, I started writing more seriously and getting the stories that had been rattling around in my head for years, out of my head and onto the computer. I am described as an emerging writer. I am absolutely enjoying learning and honing my craft.

﻿Where do you get your ideas for your stories?﻿

I find that ideas for stories are all around me. It could be from a dream, a memory, a story someone else has told me or I might hear one on the radio, on the news or in the newspaper... anything can spark an idea for a story, or a character for a story. I might see an interesting person down the street and start wondering about that person. What are they like? What do they look like? Smell like? How do they talk? What does that say about that person? What is their story?

I also love talking with my daughter. We will have the most zaniest, craziest conversations. We will just let our imaginations go wild. It is often through these conversations that I'll end up with another story, or a character. In fact, one of the stories I am working on at the moment came from such a conversation.

Who are your favourite authors?

My longtime favorite author is Anne Mccaffrey. I just love her Dragon Riders of Pern series. She is a master at mixing Sci-fi and fantasy and making it believable. I also like Frank Peretti. His stories keep me on the edge of my seat and keep me guessing to the very end. My favourites of his are Monster, Nightmare Academy, The Visitation and House. I also like Paula Vince and Janette Oke. Recently I have discovered Tony DiTerlizzi, Chris D'Lacey and Isobelle Carmody. Ooo! Then there is Stephen Michael King, Dee White, ﻿Rachael Elliot, Jackie French, Jan Ormerod, Libby Gleeson, Hazel Edwards, Jen Storer, Alison Reynolds, Allison Tait... well you get the picture. ﻿

If you have any questions that you would like me to answer, please feel free to contact me.